week 7 - match preview

Slomka calls for increased effort in Hamburg

Schalke take on SV Hamburg at the AOL Arena on Saturday. Both teams have come in for some criticism in the last few days and both have had to handle some disappointments. But there's to be no more of that - at least not for the Royal Blues, as head coach Mirko Slomka told today's pre-match press conference: "I'm assuming the players will show the right response in Hamburg."

The Schalke boss used the international break to hold a number of private conversations with his players. "I told them in no uncertain terms what they've been doing wrong recently", he said. After a detailed analysis of the 3-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen Slomka concluded that his side need to improve their tackling and their work rate, in particular. Against Leverkusen, for example, only Marcelo Bordon and Mladen Krstajic won more than 50 percent of their tackles.

Yet Slomka also pointed out that his team were still level on points with the league leaders in spite of last week's needless defeat. A situation that is a long way off for Hamburg, who have taken just five points from their first six games and currently occupy one of the relegation spots. Slomka is not about to let this deceive him, however. "Hamburg are a very good side, just as we are. They also attach a lot of importance to possession football."

Unfortunately the two teams have one more thing in common, as both face major injury worries. Besides long-term casualties Christian Pander, Soren Larsen and Gerald Asamoah, Slomka will also be without two more important players in Fabian Ernst and Mathias Abel. The latter undergoes surgery on a torn cartilage in his left knee today, but in Ernst's case an operation makes no sense. His bone oedema in the pubic region will have to be treated by conservative means. "We can only rest it and wait until the inflammation subsides", said Slomka.

Nevertheless the Schalke boss wants at least a point on Saturday and already has a definite idea of how to crack open Thomas Doll's team. "Hamburg have conceded a lot of goals from set pieces recently. That's where we've got to start." The 39-year-old is determined not to see a repeat of what happened in Leverkusen. "We want to make it up to the fans. At the end I want to see the players going over to the fans to thank them for being there - and the supporters congratulating the players for playing well."